Wiley Roots in Greeley lampoons Anheuser-Busch, Disney with new brews

Miranda and Kyle Carbaugh, co-owners of Wiley Roots in Greeley, pose with their newest line of beverages. (Adam Poulisse/apoulisse@greeleytribune.com)

Sometimes you raise your glass to toast something.

But other times, as Wiley Roots is doing now, you raise a glass to roast something.

The Greeley brewery, located at 625 3rd St., released five new beers over the weekend as part of its business expansion that includes more brewing space. And two of those new releases are not only refreshing, they have some bite to them.

One of the brews is called Beer Flavored Beer, a lager that is a parody of a recent oopsie that Anheuser-Busch made on its verified Instagram page.

The adult-beverage empire’s social media post included a photo of their product Wicked Weed La Bonté; Anheuser-Busch purchased North-Carolina based Wicked Weed in 2017. The caption underneath proclaimed Anheuser-Busch is bringing sour beers to the U.S. “after centuries of development in and around Belgium.”

The problem is, Anheuser-Busch didn’t bring sours to the U.S. — they’ve been here for decades. The post has since been removed.

“(Wicked Weed was) known for their sours before Anheuser-Busch acquired them," said Kyle Carbaugh, co-owner of Wiley Roots. “People who have followed Wicked Weed since the beginning were like, ‘What? What is this?'”

The error happened while Beer Flavored Beer brewed at Wiley Roots, an eight-week process for lagers. It didn’t have a name or theme yet, but that all changed when Anheuser-Busch made the error.

Wiley Roots spoofed every aspect of the snafu in marketing their Beer Flavored Beer, from the look of the can to Wiley Roots’ own Instagram announcement, jokingly announcing that “after centuries of development in and around Belgium, lager beers have arrived in the United States.”

The new beers were a way to give cheers to Wiley Roots expanding its production space from 800 square feet to 5,000 square feet. The new area meant increasing the number of fermenters from four to six and also installing larger, more convenient packaging equipment.

The expansion project began this past summer. Accommodating a lager brew like Beer Flavored Beer before the new space opened meant constraints on the business.

“If we took up a tank for eight weeks, we had to sell at such a dollar value to help accommodate (releasing) two or three other beers out of the same tank in that same amount of time,” Carbaugh said.

Wiley Roots is using their newest line of products to spoof Anheuser-Busch and The Walt Disney Co. (Adam Poulisse/apoulisse@greeleytribune.com)

Wiley Roots is also using the new line-up to thumb its nose at the notoriously litigious Walt Disney Co. Chuggington, a west coast IPA, features curly-cue letters resembling the mouse house’s iconic font on its packaging.

So far Disney or Anheuser Busch haven’t come a-knocking. But Beer Flavored Beer did land Wiley Roots in some hot water.

A brewery in San Diego owns the trademark to Beer Flavored Beer. Once they got wind of Wiley Roots’ latest drink, they reached out asking them to not produce any more beer under that label once their supply is depleted. Wiley Roots produced about 40 cases of Beer Flavored Beer and enough for the tap room, but it won’t be around long under that name, Carbaugh said.

“Based on what we’re seeing in terms of people’s response to the beer, I’d be surprised if it lasted two weeks in the taproom,” he said.

Wiley Roots has also spoofed Sonic Drive-In and Pillsbury with some of their previous products.

Sometimes the brewery will release more straight-forward products, co-owner Miranda Carbaugh said. This wasn’t one of those times.

“It’s not supposed to be serious,” she said. “It’s supposed to be fun.”

The three other new beers released with the expansion are fit for a sweet tooth: Peaches and Cream State Fair Cobbler, an imperial milkshake sour IPA; Salted Caramel Monstah, an imperial stout and 320, a juicy New England-style IPA.

"Craft consumer industries have gone in a different direction than where (they were) even five years when we started," Kyle Carbaugh said. “Recently, things have gotten pushed into a direction with the advent of pastry stouts. Those kind of beers are what people are gravitating toward and are excited about right now.”

With the weather on Sunday afternoon being nice enough to allow it, a couple of groups sat outside to enjoy some of the new flavors, including the Beer Flavored Beer.

One table of five drinkers, all of whom came in from Denver just to enjoy Wiley Roots brews, described Beer Flavored Beer as “crisp,” “clean” and “refreshing.”

Vesper Williams said the product lives up to its name.

“It does taste like beer,” he said. “They weren’t lying.”

— Adam Poulisse is the go and do reporter for the Greeley Tribune. Let him know of anything fun going on in the area by calling him at 970-392-4440 or emailing him at apoulisse@greeleytribune.com.

Greeley’s MLK March theme is “Unity Begins With You”

Martin Luther King responds to the crowd after his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in August 1963. (Associated Press.)

Greeley’s Martin Luther King Day Unity March will begin at 9:45 a.m. Monday at the University of Northern Colorado’s University Center, 2101 10th Ave.

Marchers will walk north up that street to the Union Colony Civic Center, 701 10th Ave.

The route is longer than it was in past MLK Day marches, when the starting point was the Union Pacific Train Depot on 7th Avenue.

Talia Carroll, chair of the MLK Celebration committee, has been director of UNC’s Marcus Garvey Cultural Center since August 2015.

“When I first moved here, I learned that the march was a 7-minute, maybe 10-minute walk, and it wasn’t really visible,” she said. “This just felt like a great way to be more visible in the community and have people join in a longer route and honor MLK at the same time.”

Following the march, an MLK Celebration is set for UCCC’s Monfort Concert Hall at 11 a.m. Speakers, a theatrical performance and music honoring Dr. King are scheduled to be on the program.

After that, a 12:30 p.m. dessert reception will be held at the UCCC’s Tointon Gallery, the site of a “Beauty Across the African Diaspora” exhibit of artifacts and art. That show begins this Friday with a public reception from 5 to 7 p.m. It will be open through Feb. 23 and is considered a community event in Greeley’s Black History Month commemoration.

Design by Tiffany Aho, City of Greeley

The theme of MLK Day’s Greeley events is “Unity Begins With You.” Sponsors are the Marcus Garvey Cultural Center, UNC, the City of Greeley and Aims Community College.

Greeley Evans Transit’s No. 5 route between the University Center and the UCCC will be free on the morning and afternoon of the march.

Monday’s proceedings are the beginning of a week of events tied to the MLK Day commemoration and Dr. King’s causes.

“There’s really been a huge effort on behalf of the entire event committee, which I’m privileged to serve on, to make it not just one day, but an entire week,” said Chris Garcia, the City of Greeley’s community engagement specialist. “I think one of the coolest things is that the theme is ‘Unity Begins With You.’ I think that it’s just a start to that conversation. We’re aware there are differences in our community. How do we help celebrate those differences and those unique things that can make us so much better and so much different? We can continue to build on that.

“We have a large and growing immigrant and refugee population. Our Latino population is nearly 40 percent. And we want to make sure we’re bringing in all of those voices. As a city, we’re only made better by bringing in different perspectives.”

Fifty-one years after Dr. King’s assassination in Memphis, what can his message teach?

“I think it can teach us that there’s still work to be done,” Garcia said. “I think it can tell us we’ve come a long way, but there’s still a long way to go. It can tell us we’ve taken those first few steps, but we can still do better. We can make sure that every member of our community and every member of our student population and every member of the immigrant and refugee population feels connected, engaged and wanted here.”

Carroll said, “In line with our theme this year, we can only be unified when we each take responsibility to have a relationship with people in our community and to take time to honor and serve those we work closely with every day and go beyond ourselves. We need to realize we can’t do really, really great things alone and that we need each other to make great progress in our communities.”

She added, “I’m still learning a lot about Greeley. It feels very segmented to me … I would hope and I want people to hear that we can’t just be siloed and sort of be with people we feel comfortable with but to go beyond that and seek folks who are dissimilar to who we are. I’m hoping that people can break away from the dichotomy of black and white and really engage and get to know folks from all kinds of different backgrounds.”

From last year’s MLK Day March. (University of Northern Colorado photo.)

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— Terry Frei writes features and columns for The Tribune. He’s the author of seven books, including the novels “The Witch’s Season” and “Olympic Affair.” He can be reached at (970) 392-4424 or tfrei@greeleytribune.com. His website is http://www.terryfrei.com. Twitter: @tfrei

Food and games aplenty to chase away winter chills at the Tavern at St. Michael’s

Line cook Steven Weber sends out a hot pizza from the stone-fired oven at the Tavern at St. Michael's Square.(For The Tribune/Emily Kemme)

The Tavern

Greeley-raised and Colorado-trained in the culinary arts, chef Chad Young has a good measure of what works to keep loyal patrons happy at his upscale pub in the west Greeley neighborhood of St. Michael's. Though a part of that is because he serves well-prepared, solid food with healthy portions, it's also because The Tavern has something fun happening pretty much all day and late into the night. Think of The Tavern as your go-to party planner. Serving lunch and dinner, Sunday brunch with bottomless mimosas and a yards-long Bloody Mary bar full of customizable drink options, and Sunday Game nights with pizzas, floats and Bingo — this is just the beginning.

Bacon-wrapped dates are a beautiful presentation, sweet, salty and artfully drizzled with a balsamic vinegar reduction.(For The Tribune/Emily Kemme)

You’ll feel the party vibes the minute you walk into the restaurant. Part of the quaint St. Michael’s development off U.S. 34, the booming area hosts uniquely designed homes and storefronts with a variety of businesses and retail. The façade of The Tavern has the world-weary charm of a picture-perfect English pub.

Once inside with a pint at your elbow, the warm and cozy menu has a pub-grub bent with fresh and lively creations to match any craving. Classic pub food offerings like fish and chips, mac and cheese, and a creamy chicken pot pie provide authenticity, while hearty burgers and stone-fired pizzas offer build your own options.

Not feeling creative? No worries. Order the Tavern Burger, made with ground chuck, cheddar cheese and a slathering of Nuke Paste, a fiery blend of peppers that pops up in other spots across the menu. To cover all the taste options, the burger is topped with a cream cheese-stuffed jalapeño wrapped in bacon.

Hone your bartending skills at the Tavern's Sunday Brunch, which features bottomless mimosas and a Bloody Mary bar with all the fixings. Try adding pickle juice to your Bloody for a twist. (For The Tribune/Emily Kemme)

There also are a handful of designer pizza choices. For vegans, try the Quinoa Burger, blended with black beans, veggies, and topped with guacamole. Feeling chilled? Warm up with French Onion soup, green chili or melt into the many sandwiches, including a standout Rueben with Tavern kraut.

Lighter side appetites will enjoy Chef Chad's playfulness. The bacon-wrapped dates are a beautiful presentation, sweet, salty and artfully drizzled with a balsamic vinegar reduction. Bring along a bunch of buddies and make it a party with shareables like the mountain of nachos or wings tossed in a choice of Buffalo, BBQ, Cranberry Chipotle or "Tavern Nuke."

Too hot to handle? Sink into Midwest comfort food with an order of cheese curds, battered and deep-fried and served with marinara sauce. You also can get the curds poutine style, served with fries and rich brown gravy.

The Tavern also is a place to play. Show off what you know Thursdays at 8 p.m. with Geeks Who Drink trivia, and play bingo on Sunday evenings for a chance to win Colorado Eagles tickets.

Greeley Blues Jam lineup announced, tickets on sale

A crowd begins to gather inside the Stampede arena as the bands begin to play at the Blue Jam in Greeley. (Tribune file photo)

The Greeley Blues Jam will bring an eclectic mix to the city this summer.

Tickets are available online through the Greeley Blues Jam website. Tickets range from $30 for general admission to $60 for preferred season, which traditionally sells out. Tent camping costs $25.

Several Greeley businesses will begin selling tickets on Feb. 1.

— Adam Poulisse is the go and do reporter for the Greeley Tribune. Let him know of anything fun going on in the area by calling him at 970-392-4440 or emailing him at apoulisse@greeleytribune.com.

Greeley gas prices fall below $2 — how long will it last?

Tinisha Brunmeier fills her vehicle with gasoline Thursday afternoon at the Everyday gas station on Eighth Avenue in Greeley, where regular unleaded is $1.89 per gallon. (Michael Brian/Greeley Tribune)

Tinisha Brunmeier stopped at the Everyday gas station on 8th Avenue Thursday afternoon to fill up her tank.

Gas was $1.89 that day, but she said she’s even seen it cheaper in the area.

“It helps people who don’t make a lot of money,” Brunmeier said.

That help may persist for several more months, as gas experts say the prices could stay this way into the summer road-trip season when demand spikes again.

“There are a lot of gas in stock,” said Skyler Mckinley, a spokesman for AAA Colorado. “It will continue to build throughout winter.”

As of Friday, the average price at the pump was $2 in Denver, $2.05 in Greeley and $2.07 in Fort Collins , McKinley said. The variance has to do with the population, McKinley said: More people are simply buying gas in Denver than in Greeley, meaning Denver goes through a more expensive barrel before Greeley gets to it, causing a lag.

The state has seen a 32-cent month-to-month decrease over the past few months, McKinley said. However, a post-holidays dip in gas prices is pretty common.

“We’ve got a ton of supply in the market but it’s a low-demand time of year,” McKinley said.

— Adam Poulisse is the go and do reporter for the Greeley Tribune. Let him know of anything fun going on in the area by calling him at 970-392-4440 or emailing him at apoulisse@greeleytribune.com.

Michael Ortega, left, and Michael Whitcomb play “Magic: The Gathering” at The Nerd Store, 807 8th St. in Greeley, on Tuesday evening. (Adam Poulisse/apoulisse@greeleytribune.com)

If you don’t play “Magic: The Gathering” often, then jumping in cold — especially before a new deck of cards changes the entire game — may be a tad confusing.

But Michael Ortega and Michael Whitcomb, in the middle of playing the wildly popular card game on a weeknight at The Nerd Store on 8th Street, tried to boil it down for me.

“To me, it’s like a chess game but with more flavor,” Ortega said. “It takes it to the next degree. It’s way more exciting and the art is just awesome.”

Instead of knights and bishops and pawns, you play as dueling wizards who use various spells and skills on the cards to defeat their opponents. This weekend, a new deck of cards, “Ravnica Allegiance” will be released into the “Magic” realm, upping the ante for wizards, and causing a lot of anticipation among the community.

“You can be competitive with more things, more combinations,” Whitcomb said.

The release of “Ravnica Allegiance” expansion pack is causing quite a stir at local gaming stores. The new cards aren’t officially released until Jan. 25, but pre-release parties set for this weekend are casting a spell over locally businesses that are extending their operating hours past midnight and hosting events and sales to accommodate the hype.

If you go

Here is a list of “Ravnica Allegiance” pre-release parties in the area:

The Nerd Store, 807 8th St., beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday

Grand Slam, 1020 28th Avenue, beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday

Heroes and Horrors Games in Windsor, 1215 Main St., beginning at 12:15 a.m. Saturday

AJ Ozmina, left, store manager of The Nerd Store, squares off against Drew Shaw during a game of “Magic: The Gathering” Wednesday evening at The Nerd Store in Greeley. Several stores in northern Colorado this weekend will be hosting release parties for “Ravnica Allegiance,” a new deck of cards for the game. (Adam Poulisse/apoulisse@greeleytribune.com)

The Nerd Store will begin its “Ravnica Allegiance” pre-release weekend at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, and five tournaments will continue through noon Sunday. It is $30 to participate and preregistration is preferred. There will also be food.

Bundles and boxes featuring the new cards at The Nerd Store range from $44.99 to $144.99 through the pre-release.

“‘Magic’ is easily one of our most popular games,” said AJ Ozmina, The Nerd Store manager. “The cards change the way the game is played. People get pretty excited about it.”

“Ravnica Allegiance” is the second in a trilogy of expansions following “Guilds of Ravnica” in October. The packs won’t be hard to find because big box stores like Target and Walmart will carry them, but midnight and weekend-long events are special for local businesses.

“Big box stores sell ‘Magic’ products but … they don’t build a community,” Ozmina said. “You can’t go to Target or Walmart and have the same experience. It’s kind of a cool way to promote local shops. ”

Grand Slam — a cards, comics and games store on 28th Avenue in Greeley — previously hosted midnight release parties for earlier “Magic” expansion packs, but have since scaled back because “it makes for a very busy weekend when you have one at midnight then have one the next day,” Grand Slam employee George Joyce Jr. said.

“We try to get in as many as we can,” he said. “We moved to having two on Saturday and two on Sunday.”

There’s a certain buzz leading into this new pack, Joyce said.

“A new set of cards is exciting because you get to add cards to the current pool of available cards,” he said. “It’s always exciting to open new packs and see new combos and ways the cards interact with each other.”

Heroes and Horrors Games, 1215 Main St. in Windsor, will begin its “Ravnica Allegiance” pre-release events at 12:15 a.m. Saturday.

Even though the expansion pack is most exciting to more seasoned players, the prerelease parties are events “that are out there for everybody,” Ozmina said.

“You see players you don’t come from weekly events,” he said. “Everyone is on an even playing field.”

Whitcomb, one of the “Magic” players at The Nerd Store this week, started playing in 2011. He said he appreciates the camaraderie that comes with the “Magic” community and the local events.

“I’ve made a lot of good friends,” he said. “You meet people and you talk about the game, then it branches out and you can talk about anything with them.”

— Adam Poulisse is the go and do reporter for the Greeley Tribune. Let him know of anything fun going on in the area by calling him at (970) 392-4440 or emailing him at apoulisse@greeleytribune.com.

Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon on Malibu Beach during the filming of “Beach Party” in 1963. (Associated Press.)

It would be hard to exaggerate how big of a star Frankie Avalon — who will appear in concert Saturday night at Greeley’s Union Colony Civic Center — was in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Elvis Presley, from Tupelo, Miss., was the king.

Frankie Avalon, from Philadelphia, was the prince. Plus, he was more the approachable guy next door, especially as pages tore off the calendar.

Their meteoric popularity didn’t exactly coincide, but at least overlapped. They had hit song after hit song, popular movie after popular movie, few of which would be confused with, say, the epic 1963 Oscar winner “Lawrence of Arabia,” and usually were similar in non-intricacy of plot and amiably entertaining.

In Avalon’s case, his signature and image-defining films were “beach” movies, most notably co-starring former Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeer Annette Funicello, one of the most-liked actresses in Hollywood. And they came after Avalon had a series of huge singles on the charts, including No. 1 hits “Why” and “Venus” in 1959, when he still was a teenager.

Sixty years later, Avalon is still on the concert circuit. He’s 78. He looks 60. Tops.

Frankie Avalon

Avalon managed to avoid the plagues of stardom that have afflicted so many other marquee names of his or any other generation, with a 56-year marriage and eight children. He now not only performs, but credibly pitches Frankie Avalon Foods, his Italian Family Cookbook and health care products on his own website.

“There are 24 hours in a day, and I want to make sure I use them as wisely as I can,” he said from his home in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Yes, Avalon will sing “Venus” Saturday night in Greeley. He doesn’t get tired of performing it.

And it will be 1959 again. Even for those born in 1995.

Frankie Avalon's Top 50 hit singles

Year and highest U.S. chart ranking

DeDe Dinah, 1957, No. 7

You Excite Me, 1958, No. 49

Ginger Bread, 1958, No. 9

I’ll Wait For You, 1958, No. 15

Venus, 1959, No. 1

Bobby Sox to Stockings, 1959, No. 8

A Boy Without a Girl, 1959, No. 10

Just Ask Your Heart, 1959, No. 7

Why, 1959, No. 1

Swingin’ on a Rainbow, 1959, No. 39

Don’t Throw Away All Those Teardrops, 1960, No. 22

Where Are You, 1960, No. 32

Togetherness, 1960, No. 26

A Perfect Love, 1960, No. 47

You Are Mine, 1962, No. 26

Venus, 1976, No. 46

That’s the way iconic chartbusters and singers work. The biggest upset of Avalon’s career might be that his story hasn’t yet been transformed into a jukebox Broadway musical.

“It’s great to perform for the people and have them appreciate my career and what I do,” Avalon said. “If I didn’t still enjoy it, I wouldn’t do it.”

Avalon started out playing the trumpet and before his singing career got in high gear, he performed as a musician as a kid in the Philadelphia area, even winning a local television talent contest.

Frankie Avalon in his teen idol days.

Is he still a tough Philadelphia kid at heart?

“I don’t know about the tough part,” he said. “But I grew up there, I got my start there and it always will be important to me.”

His goal was to be a trumpet-playing bandleader, in the tradition of Harry James. His first singles, in fact, were trumpet instrumentals. He joined a band, Rocco and the Saints, that also included another future star — singer Bobby Rydell.

Turning to singing, he recorded “Cupid” and “Teacher’s Pet.” He sang the latter, which didn’t crack the Billboard Hot 100, and played the trumpet in his first movie role, a small part in “Jamboree.” That was a 1957 release and his first hit came that same year, when “DeDe Dinah,” peaked at No. 7.

The lore was that he so disliked the song, he held his nose while recording it.

That’s a stretch, Avalon said. “I sang through my nose for it,” he said. “It was a nasal sound, and for that song, it worked.”

His next movies were 1960 releases “Guns of the Timberland,” starring Alan Ladd and featuring Avalon singing two songs; and “The Alamo,” starring John Wayne. At the time, Wayne told the Los Angeles Times that Avalon, who portrayed Smitty, was “the finest young talent I’ve seen in a long time.”

“Beach Party” was the first of the beach movies starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.

After several other movie projects, including “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,” the first beach movie was “Beach Party” in 1963. It was the first pairing of Avalon and Funicello.

The beach movies were fun, both for the actors and the moviegoers, and it didn’t take a lot of acting to give that impression.

“Oh, doing them was like a paid vacation,” Avalon said.

A Selection of Frankie Avalon's Movies

Jamboree, 1957

The Alamo, 1960

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, 1961

Operation Bikini, 1963

Beach Party, 1963

Muscle Beach Party, 1964

Bikini Beach, 1964

Pajama Party, 1964

Beach Blanket Bingo, 1965

I’ll Take Sweden, 1965

Ski Party, 1965

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, 1965

Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, 1965

Fireball 500, 1965

Skidoo, 1968

Grease, 1978

Blood Song, 1982

Back to the Beach, 1987

Part of that was the on-screen chemistry of off-screen friendship he had with Funicello, who died in Bakersfield of complications from multiple sclerosis at age 70 in 2013. They ended up in nearly a dozen films together, including the ode to the genre, “Back to the Beach” in 1987.

“She was a wonderful person,” Avalon said. “We laughed together. I was godfather to her daughter Gina. We were really close friends. It was very hard to see what she went through.”

Avalon also was the Teen Angel in the iconic 1978 film version of “Grease,” singing “Beauty School Dropout.” He was afraid of heights and had some nervous moments in the climb down the three-story staircase, minus a railing, but made it through it. That nudged him back into the spotlight.

“That’s one of the most popular movies of all time,” Avalon said. “I was proud to be in it.”

His schedule now is selective, and many of his appearances are joint “Golden Boys” concerts with fellow former teen idols Fabian and Bobby Rydell. That won’t be the case in Greeley. But this man still can carry a tune … and a show.

(Update: Avalon’s Greeley concert was a near-sellout, and he was a huge hit with the crowd, even the few who came into the night skeptical. He came in to the audience while singing “Venus” and others. He showed home film of his family life, and one of his sons was his drummer, and one of the Everly Brothers’ sons was on guitar. That was an excuse to sing a couple of Everly Brothers hits, too. And, yes, those in the audience might be humming “Venus” all week.)

— Terry Frei writes features and columns for The Tribune. He’s the author of seven books, including “Third Down and a War to Go.” He can be reached at (970) 392-4424 or tfrei@greeleytribune.com. His website is http://www.terryfrei.com. Twitter: @tfrei

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From ‘Minecraft’ to ‘Mission: Impossible,” here’s what people checked out from northern Colorado libraries in 2018

While parents enjoyed watching Tom Cruise kick butt in his latest action extravaganza, children enjoyed reading about a wimpy kid.

Some youngsters learned how to build cities with Legos, others learned to build worlds in “Minecraft.”

Clearview and High Plains library districts released their top adult and children’s books and movies checked out from their respective branches in 2018. The children have spoken: They want to learn about “Minecraft.”

Six of the top 15 children’s nonfiction books checked out at Clearview Library District were handbooks, guides and even an encyclopedia related to the mega-popular game. A few Lego books were also on the list.

“Maybe we are raising a new generation of engineers and builders,” library director Ann Kling said.

As for children’s fictional books in Clearview, it was all about the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” saga. Seven of the 10 children’s books checked out at Clearview were from the author Jeff Kinney’s book saga that has inspired merchandise and movies. But the district’s top children’s book in 2018 was not the wimpy kid, but the boy wizard’s second year at Hogwarts in “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.”

The most-checked-out movie for adults at Clearview was “Molly’s Game,” starring Jessica Chastain as Olympic skier-turned-illegal poker player Molly Bloom and directed by Aaron Sorkin. “The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature” was the most popular children’s movie.

John Grisham’s “Camino Island” was the top adult fiction title of the year at Clearview, and Paul Kalanithi’s autobiography “When Breath Becomes Air” was the top nonfiction title among adults.

At High Plains Library District, the sixth installment in Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” was the top adult film checked out, and the TV series “SpongeBob SquarePants” was the top children’s video checked out. The most popular adult fiction title was “A Delicate Touch” and the most popular nonfiction title was Michelle Obama’s “Becoming.”

But people weren’t only checking out books and movies in 2018. Clearview Library District also allows patrons to rent “explore kits” that allow people to test out pieces of technology before spending money on it to own.

Explore kits are divided into two categories: The more popular ones can be checked out for a week, and the rest can be checked out for a couple weeks.

A Sphero Mini, an app-controlled robotic ball, was the most checked-out kit among the seven-day options, and the Electronic Snap Circuits electronic toy was the most popular among the other category.

Here’s a full breakdown of the top checkouts.

High Plains Library District

“Mission: Impossible — Fallout” (For the Tribune/Paramount Pictures)

Top 10 adult movie titles

“Mission: Impossible — Fallout”

“Night School”

“The Equalizer 2”

“Crazy Rich Asians”

“The House with a Clock in its Walls”

“River Runs Red”

“A.X.L.”

“Ant-Man and the Wasp”

“Peppermint”

“The Meg”

Top 10 children’s movie titles

“SpongeBob Squarepants”

“Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitsu”

“Disney Junior Holiday”

“The Legend of Korra”

“Scooby-Doo! and the Haunted House”

“The Lion King”

“Fancy Nancy! Ooh La La!”

“Trolls Holiday”

“Scooby Doo! and the Skeletons”

“Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost”

Top 10 adult fiction titles

“A Delicate Touch” by Stuart Woods

“Under the Midnight Sun” by Tracie Peterson and Kimberley Woodhouse

“Nine Perfect Strangers” by Liane Moriarty

“The Reckoning” by John Grisham

“Past Tense” by Lee Child

“Look Alive Twenty-Five” by Janet Evanovich

“Target Alex Cross” by James Patterson

“Dark Sacred Night” by Michael Connelly

“Elevation” by Stephen King

“Every Breath” by Nicholas Sparks

Top 10 adult nonfiction titles

“Becoming” (For the Tribune/becomingmichelleobama.com)

“Becoming” by Michelle Obama

“Better Living Through Origami: 20 Creative Paper Projects for a Beautiful Home” by Nelliana van den Baard and Kenneth Veenenbos

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— Adam Poulisse is the go and do reporter for the Greeley Tribune. Let him know of anything fun going on in the area by calling him at 970-392-4440 or emailing him at apoulisse@greeleytribune.com.

Female a cappella group Greeley Harmonix hopes to expand

Greeley Harmonix director Julie Palagi leads the a cappella chorus during rehearsal Monday at Fellowship Church in Greeley. The choir has 18 members but is hoping to expand this year. (Adam Poulisse/apoulisse@greeleytribune.com)

Susan Henderson heard about Greeley Harmonix, the local female-only a cappella group, for a while. But on Monday, she decided to attend a practice for the first time.

“I love to sing,” said Hendesrson, who has lived in Greeley for the past four years. “A cappella is especially challenging. It really allows the human voice to be the star of the show.”

Henderson showing up is a start to the goal Greeley Harmonix has for this year: Add more members and expand into a higher competition category.

"It gives us more energy,” assistant director Tonya Olson said. ” You can pull from each individual."

For anyone who hasn’t seen the “Pitch Perfect” movies, a cappella is singing without instrumental accompaniment; the voices are the instruments. The Harmonix began in 2011. It falls under Rocky Mountain Region 8 of Sweet Adelines International, a worldwide organization comprising women singers looking to advance barbershop harmony. The region includes women singers from eight states.

Women come from Greeley, Johnstown and farther to be a part of the Harmonix.

The singing group, recognized by its blue-and-green, peacock feather-patterned shirts, has 18 members as of this week, putting them in Division A in contests. Division B has at least 31 members and no more than 60 singers. The group consists of tenor, leads, baritones and bass, but the lack of membership sometimes causes issues with that.

“When we go to do public performances we have to have a balance of all four parts,” Olson said. “If we’re asked to do a performance and not all can do it, we have to turn it down because we’re missing a part.”

How to join

Those interested in joining can show up to rehearsals at 6:30 p.m. every Monday at Fellowship Church, 2376 47th Ave. Information is also available at greeleyharmonix.org or the Greeley Harmonix Facebook page.

When the ladies perform either at events or at competitions, they can be heard covering anything from 1930s songs to the Beatles, and from country to jazz arrangements.

“When you have more members you can do more with the performances," Olson said.

Last spring the Harmonix planned to attend the Sweet Adelines regional competition in Phoenix, but at the last minute couldn’t compete because they ended up short members to cover all the required parts for their performance, Olson said. A quartet arrangement within the Harmonix did compete, however, and placed fourth.

Other than that year, the chorus has received medals in all five of its other competitions.

Singers will go through a six-week tryout period before auditioning that allows them to see where they fit in and also if the time and financial commitment is for them. Dues cover outfits and travel expenses, among other things.

Christine Slike, of Greeley, joined the Harmonix around Christmas time when they were performing holiday music in town. She’s played instruments her whole life but now, she uses her voice.

“The ladies are very friendly and welcoming and asked me to come back,” Silke said. “I was surprised people don’t live in Greeley. There must be something about it that brings people here.”

— Adam Poulisse is the go and do reporter for the Greeley Tribune. Let him know of anything fun going on in the area by calling him at 970-392-4440 or emailing him at apoulisse@greeleytribune.com.